


In with a Bang

by bansheequeen (queenbanshee), xtremeroswellian



Series: Moving Targets [8]
Category: Smallville
Genre: Angry Sex, Apologies, Celebrations, F/M, Fingering, Get it together you idiots, Holidays, Idiots in Love, Locked in a dark room together, Mutual Pining, New Year's Eve, Rough Kissing, Rough Sex, Sex on the Beach
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:55:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24226948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenbanshee/pseuds/bansheequeen, https://archiveofourown.org/users/xtremeroswellian/pseuds/xtremeroswellian
Summary: New Years is the perfect time to start over, but figuring out what they should be starting over might be the tricky part of the tradition.
Relationships: Arthur Curry/Dinah Lance, Oliver Queen/Chloe Sullivan
Series: Moving Targets [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1748179
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

**Star City HQ -- December 31, 2010**

"Beginner's luck. Yeah, right." AC frowned as Mia took everyone's money for the third time in a row, eying the youngest member of their 'family' with suspicion.

Chloe shook her head and stood up, "I'm out," she picked up her glass and walked over to the other table, pouring wine into it.

"C'mon, Speedy, I'll beat you this time," Bart told her.

Mia smirked at him. "You're on, Impulse," she responded, shuffling the cards and dealing them once more.

Oliver grinned a little, leaning back in his chair. "I think I'll just sit this one out and watch."

"I'm definitely in," Dinah announced, shifting in her chair and picking up the cards, "none of them could beat me, I can't let _you_ do it, Mia."

Chloe sipped on her glass and walked back to her seat, "she's not cheating, not that I can see it. I've been watching her."

Victor looked at Mia, then at Dinah and Bart. "Hell. Deal me in." He sat down at the table. If anyone could beat them, it was him.

"Hate to tell you, but she's gonna kick all your butts," Oliver informed them with a smirk.

"Man!" Bart complained, "that's not fair," he told Victor, "it's like playing against the computer..."

"No abilities allowed," Dinah pointed out, narrowing her eyes at the boys.

"You guys better start soon, we have fifteen minutes until midnight," Chloe told them, relaxing against her chair.

Victor shrugged. "Deal with it, Shortie." He smirked, picking up his cards.

Oliver cast an amused glance at them and then looked over at the TV, showing what was going on in Times Square. Currently that happened to be Lady Gaga singing some song and dancing around on a stage in a very bizarre costume.

Bart gave Victor a look and picked up his cards too, "you start," he told Mia.

Dinah glanced at AC, "sitting this one out?" She asked, smirking.

AC smirked back at her. "Getting too rich for my blood," he responded with a shrug.

"Quitter," she told him.

Chloe paused a little at the interaction and raised her eyebrows slightly, watching the two of them.

"Gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em," he teased, gazing at her.

Oliver smirked at that. "Thanks, Kenny."

AC glowered at him, watching as Mia laid down a card.

"Draw Four," she told Bart with glee.

Bart glared at her and reached for the cards, "you're cheating!"

"You should be used to losing by now, Bart, never won a single game," Dinah pointed out.

Chloe shook her head and watched in silence, just sipping on her wine and watching them with amusement.

"I'm not cheating, you just suck at Uno," Mia defended with a smirk, leaning back in her chair.

Ollie ducked his head and grinned.

"We're going for a race," Bart told Mia, "I'll even let you use your new car against me."

"A rocket might be fair, Bart, but I'm pretty sure she couldn't break the sound barrier with the car." Chloe pointed out.

Victor smirked. "Probably shouldn't encourage her to try, either."

"Five minutes til Midnight," AC announced, glancing over at the TV. "I can't believe you guys would rather watch something that aired hours ago instead of watching the LA celebration." He shook his head a little.

"The ball dropping is classic," Vic responded, not looking up from his cards, and laying a draw two card down for Dinah.

"They will show the rest of the world after midnight," Dinah pointed out.

"We should get our champagne ready," Bart said, abandoning his cards on the table and standing up.

"Do I get champagne?" Mia asked, her eyes widening.

"Absolutely _not_ ," Oliver responded, giving her a look.

"One glass isn't gonna get me drunk, and it's not like I've never had alcohol," or worse, "before." Mia pointed out with a roll of her eyes.

Chloe bit back a smile at the look on Oliver's face then stood up, "I'll help you," she told Bart.

"You know what else won't get you drunk?" he responded, raising an eyebrow. "Sparkling cider. Which we have." He smiled at her.

" _Great_ " she said sarcastically, giving him a look.

He grinned, completely unfazed by her sarcasm. She'd been annoyed with him a few days before, when she'd shown up for her day at the spa and found Chloe there, too. As predicted, Mia had figured out he'd arranged it that way. And it appeared that things had settled some between the two ladies in his life. Mia was now at least being more civil to Chloe and wasn't making rude comments at every turn. She'd of course, been rather annoyed with _him_ for setting her up, but he also knew she couldn't stay mad at him for very long. "I'll go pour you some," he told her, rising to his feet.

"Bart, no, don't shake it," Chloe made a face as he shook the oversized bottle of champagne in the kitchen, "it's gonna pop, anyway, now you'll have to open it outside."

"You're worrying too much 'Licious, it's New Years Eve! Relax, I'll clean it up," he told her with a wink.

Oliver stepped into the kitchen and headed for the fridge, pulling out the bottle of sparkling apple cider he'd bought the day before, just for Mia. He eyed Bart warily, then raised an eyebrow at Chloe.

Chloe made a face and stepped back, glancing at Oliver then at the bottle, also warily.

"I vote we get out of here before--" He winced as Bart popped the top open and bubbly sprayed everywhere.

She winced and covered her head, but it was too late, she had already been sprayed with champagne, and then she felt a strong wind and opened her eyes carefully once it was over.

Bart grinned brightly, all six glasses were filled and the bottle had been placed neatly on top of a towel, there was no hint of champagne on any of the counters or on the floor, "see? Barely wasted any at all!"

"Except what you sprayed all over Chloe," Oliver said with a glare. He looked over at her and shook his head, handing the bottle of cider to Bart. "You didn't get any in your eyes did you?"

Bart took the bottle and his eyes widened a little as he looked over at the blond.

"No, I'm okay," she assured Ollie, shaking her hands, which luckily were the only parts of her body that had gotten any liquid on them at all. She turned to Bart, "for the record, if you had gotten any on my dress, I would have had to kill you."

At that, Oliver couldn't stop his gaze from sweeping over the knee-length black dress she was wearing, the necklace and bracelet he'd gotten her for Christmas contrasting with it perfectly. But his eyes weren't interested in the jewelry. He swallowed hard as he gazed at her intently, his eyes a little darker than usual.

Bart swallowed hard too, but for completely different reasons. He picked up a couple of the glasses after filling Mia's too with the sparkly cider, and made his way out of the kitchen.

Chloe was oblivious to the way Oliver was looking at her, she picked up some paper towel and dried her hands in them, then looked down at herself and sighed, annoyed as she noticed some of the liquid just above her cleavage, she wiped it carefully, not wanting to let it drip down to the dress.

He sucked in a breath, unable to take his eyes off her, even though he knew it was wrong. They weren't together anymore. She wasn't interested. But a mental image of pressing her up against the wall and cleaning the liquid off her skin with his mouth flashed through his mind and he unconsciously took a step toward her.

"I don't think there was any dama-" she turned to look at him and stopped at the look on his face, holding her breath when she saw how dark his eyes were. She had seen that look a lot before, and it always had the same effect on her, except this time, she couldn't just step close and kiss him until neither one of them could breathe anymore.

"Hurry up!" Victor called from the living room. "We have thirty seconds!"

Oliver forced himself to take a deep breath even as he kept his gaze on her. "We should probably get in there..."

Chloe licked her lips unconsciously and nodded, letting her breath out slowly, "yeah."

His stomach tightened as he watched her tongue dart out to lick her lips and it was all he could do to stop himself from groaning. Swallowing hard, he forced himself to turn away from her, picking up two glasses and handing one to her.

She took it without a word and had to stop herself from just drinking the whole thing before they got back to the living room, the others had already started the countdown when they joined them, and Chloe joined half-heartedly. What she really wanted to do was step outside and jump in the pool or run upstairs and take a cold shower.

Oliver was nearly oblivious to the countdown as he made himself cross the room so he wasn't standing right beside her, because God help him, if he was standing beside her when the clock struck midnight, there was no way he'd be able to stop himself from kissing her. And considering they'd just started to get things back to normal--or some semblance of normal--he didn't want to ruin it now.

"Five," AC counted, grinning and taking a drink of his champagne, eying Dinah from the corner of his eye.

"Four, three," Dinah counted, looking at AC and raising her eyebrows, smirking at him.

"Two," Chloe mumbled, not oblivious to the fact that Oliver had chosen to stay as far away from her as possible, she glanced down at her glass and took a deep breath.

"One," Mia said, taking a drink of her sparkling cider with a grin.

Dinah smirked more and crossed the room toward AC, looking up at him.

Oliver didn't bother with chiming into their shouts of 'Happy New Year's!' He just downed his glass of champagne quickly, his eyes locking on Chloe once more.

Chloe downed the content of her own glass, too, her stomach turning when she saw him looking at her again. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she tried to read his expression.

The breath caught in his throat as she stared back at him, a mixture of sadness and desire and affection swirling in his eyes.

AC wasn't aware of anything around him except the fact that Dinah had just kissed him. And not just a peck on the lips, but a full-on kiss on the mouth that he wasn't likely to forget anytime soon. Or ever.

Bart stared at AC and Dinah for a full moment then whistled loudly.

At the noise, Chloe blinked and looked away from Oliver, glancing at the source of the commotion just in time to see Dinah and AC breaking their kiss. She swallowed, glancing at Oliver quickly, then looking back at the couple.

Oliver drew in a breath and let it out slowly, looking down at the floor. If things had just been a little different, this entire night could have gone a whole other way. His chest tightened. He and Chloe could have been sharing a kiss at midnight, looking toward the new year together. Happy.

Instead, there was a space between them that felt like miles.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ocean Beach, Star City -- January 1, 2011**

After midnight, Mia, Bart and Victor went back to playing their game, Oliver disappeared as did Dinah and AC, so Chloe excused herself, too. Instead of going upstairs and torturing herself with another sleepless night, however, she figured she would go for a walk on the beach and tire herself out.

It worked. She walked for a long time, and although she could still see the house in the distance, she didn't feel like going back just yet, so she sat down, wrapped her arms around her knees and stared at the waves. Her mind was still trying to figure out what had just happened, but she knew that it didn't matter, that it probably meant she and Oliver were back where they'd been before Christmas.

And she hated it.

Oliver, on the other hand, had gone patrolling in an attempt to clear his mind. The patrol didn't last long though, because the city was quiet despite the holiday. But he didn't feel like dealing with anyone, so after he changed back into a t-shirt and jeans, he found himself leaving the house once again, via the back door so he could take off unnoticed. Sighing softly, he walked the length of the beach, his body and mind tired and frustrated.

They hadn't even touched, but somehow Oliver felt like he'd crossed some unspoken line between them, that the damage was done and probably couldn't be undone.

He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep up the act. He rubbed a hand over his face, pausing in his tracks when he spotted a lone figure on the sandy beach. His eyebrows furrowed a little as he gazed at her silently. "Chloe?"

Chloe jumped and stood up in a fraction of a second, her eyes widening, "I would really prefer if you could _stop_ sneaking up on me," she said tightly, frowning as she looked over at him.

Yeah. She was definitely pissed at him.

"It wasn't intentional," he responded, giving her a look.

"I'm sure it wasn't," she told him, her stomach dropping at the way he was looking at her, but her jaw tightened.

"Look, I didn't know you were out here, all right? I didn't come here to fight."

"Maybe it's a good thing you ran into me," she brushed the sand from her dress and stared over at him.

His gaze followed the path of her hand and he swallowed hard, looking back up at her once more. "Meaning what?"

"You know what, Oliver." She shook her dress a little then rubbed her hands together to get rid of the rest of the sand.

"No, I really don't, Chloe," he murmured.

She took a deep breath, "things can't stay the way they are."

Oliver's jaw tightened a little and he looked away, out over the ocean. "No. They can't," he agreed quietly.

"What the hell are we going to do?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest as she watched him.

"I have no idea," he admitted, shaking his head a little and glancing at her sideways.

Chloe stared over at him and sighed, walking past him and toward the ocean, "we still have to work together and we can't even do that right if we're like this."

"Well, if you have any suggestions, I'm open to listening to them," he told her, watching her move past him, barely resisting the urge to reach out and catch her arm in his hand.

"The only solution I can think of is me going back to Metropolis." She said, keeping her back to him as she stared at the ocean.

His stomach tightened at that. "Is that what you want?"

" _No_ Oliver, it's not what I want," she snapped, turning to face him again, "but unless you have a suggestion, I'm all out of ideas and I'm tired of pretending everything is okay."

Oliver's eyes narrowed at her tone. "And you think I'm what, enjoying pretending like nothing _ever_ happened between us?" he demanded. He stepped closer to her, his eyes darkening. "That I enjoy pretending that I _don't_ want to touch you?"

She stepped closer too, dropping her hands to her sides and curling her fingers into fists, "no, you don't pretend, you make yourself pretty obvious, at least, _I_ try to hide my desires."

At that, he paused, staring at her intently, searching her angry eyes. " _Your_ desires?" he echoed, the trace of a smirk forming on his mouth.

"What, you don't think I have any?" The smirk on his face only served to infuriate her more.

"Maybe you're just a lot better at pretending at things than I am," he responded.

She arched a single eyebrow and stared up at him, "did you have any doubts?"

"How could I _not_?" Oliver asked her, staring back at her and shaking his head.

"Meaning what?" Chloe asked with a frown.

"Well, sometimes it seems like it's so easy for you that once in awhile I wonder if any of it was ever real at all," he told her.

Her jaw tightened at that, and all she could do was stare up at him, "you think it's _easy_ for me?" She demanded, stepping closer, "you know what? If that's what you wanna believe, it _wasn't_ real, I was pretending-- no, I was _faking_ the entire time. Every single kiss, every _orgasm_ , it was all a lie."

He glared at her. "It seemed awfully damn easy for you to choose _Clark_ the second he acted hurt that you were _abandoning_ him," he said harshly, now only inches away from her.

"Just like it was easy for you to leave for Star City without a second thought," she said just as harshly.

At that, he actually laughed. "I _had_ to leave, Chloe," he said darkly. "Mia was registered for school already, and the league _needed_ me!"

"Just out of curiosity," she said sarcastically, "did they need you so much you couldn't even bother _calling_? Or was that just because you much rather just think that I 'chose' Clark over you and hold on to that instead of making an effort?"

His jaw tightened, his glare intensifying. "The phone works two ways, Chloe," he said heatedly. "I just assumed you and Clark had everything under control."

"And I just assumed you were done," she said, glaring up at him, "and if you remember correctly, _I_ was the one who finally called _you_ , if you had it your way, we just wouldn't have spoken again, so why don't I just leave and save you the trouble!?"

Oliver stepped closer to her. "And if _you_ remember correctly, I didn't even hesitate asking you to come out here, did I?" he demanded. "And don't presume to tell me what _my_ way would have been, because you couldn't be more wrong!"

She lifted her fists to his chest when he stepped into her personal space, her eyes narrowing, "then why the hell don't you try and tell me what your way is since you won't take _my_ solution to this mess?" She demanded.

Unable to stop himself, he dipped his head, kissing her without warning, his hands reaching out and yanking her closer to him. Chloe gasped and made a surprised noise, pressing her fists against his chest for a moment longer then grabbing onto his arms in a tight grip as she kissed him back, hard.

After a long moment, he broke the kiss, his breathing harsh. "My way's a hell of a lot more fun," he muttered.

She took a deep breath and stared up at him, "shut up," she said, then stood on her tip-toes and kissed him again.

Oliver obeyed her command, sliding his arm around her waist and pulling her to him until she was flush against him. The fingers of his other hand wove through her hair, tugging her head backwards as his tongue made its way past her lips.

Chloe couldn't stop the moan that escaped her as she opened her mouth under his, her arms wrapping around his neck as she pressed her body as close to his as she could.

His mind was whirling with so many thoughts he couldn't begin to choose one to concentrate on, so he didn't bother trying. Instead, he focused on her, on the way her body felt against his, the way she curled against him, about the moan that she'd just emitted. There was nothing gentle about the kiss, it was fierce, full of pent-up desire. Harsh.

She didn't _want_ the kisses to be gentle, so she returned them with the same amount of intensity. Part of her brain tried to warn her about this, tell her how bad of an idea it was, but right now, she didn't care. She wanted him, _needed_ him, her entire body missed his and consequences didn't matter, not when it felt as amazing as it did just to _kiss_ him.

Oliver's hands slid down her back, tugging down the zipper on her dress even as he broke the kiss, pressing his lips against her jaw, nipping her skin lightly with his teeth.

A shiver ran through her as a combination of his fingers brushing against her now completely exposed back and the slightly chilly air of the night, but she didn't open her eyes, she reached for his t-shirt instead and tugged on it, pulling it up. They had done this just a few months ago, gotten to this point, but she had stopped things. This time, she didn't plan on doing it, she was tired of denying herself what she wanted, and he obviously wanted it too.

He pulled back from her, allowing her to divest him of his shirt and he let it fall somewhere on the sand before pulling her to him once more, lowering his mouth to her neck even as he eased a dress strap off one of her arms. There were no thoughts left in his mind as his lips and tongue tasted her skin for the first time in months. He quickly slid the other dress strap off her arm, shoving the dress down around her hips, his left hand resting on the small of her back.

Chloe kept her eyes closed and ran her hands over his back, her fingertips touching his muscles, but she wasn't gentle, she was putting pressure on her hands as she ran them over every inch of bare skin she could find, not really thinking about where they were, or that they could potentially be seen, her heart was beating fast and her head was spinning and all she wanted was to feel more of his mouth and his hands against her skin.

Oliver slid his other hand around to her back, as well, dropping onto his knees in front of her and pulling her dress the rest of the way down her body, kissing her stomach as he did so. Without warning, he yanked her down in front of him.

She wasn't even sure what was happening until she found herself kneeling down too, half of her weight on his knees as her legs spread to either side of his, she took a deep breath and stared up at him, then reached for his jeans, yanking it open so hard, she couldn't be sure she hadn't just broken the zipper.

He covered her lips with his once more, his tongue plundering her mouth as he unfastened her bra clasp, shoving the material out of the way and sliding his hand down her bare skin.

After shrugging the bra off, she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer until her breasts were pressed up against his bare chest, the sudden replacement of the cold coastal air by the warmth of his skin making her moan in approval against his mouth even as she kissed him hard.

He groaned softly at the feel of her bare skin against his, threading one hand in her hair and yanking her head backwards even as his other arm slid around her waist to support her back as he dipped his head and rubbed his face between her breasts. Then he turned his head slightly and captured one of the rosy buds in his mouth.

The feel of his lips on her breasts woke her entire body, she shuddered in his arms and shifted, wrapping her legs around him and rocking her hips into his jean-clad ones, one of her hands around his back as she lifted the other one to the back of his head, her fingers sliding into his hair then wrapping around it as she pulled his head to her.

He scraped his teeth lightly over her nipple before soothing it with his tongue, slowly lowering her onto her back in the sand.

She adjusted on her back and pulled her arms from around him, taking a deep breath and reaching to cup him through his jeans with one hand, she didn't want to wait anymore, and she didn't want him to stop or change his mind, or even ask questions.

Oliver groaned at the feel of her hand and he shifted slightly, sliding his own hand between her thighs and tugging her panties aside. Scraping his teeth against her skin again, he slipped a finger inside her.

Chloe's back arched and she moaned at his touch, her hips buckling against his hand instantly and she dropped her hand away from him, but just for a second, because now, she wanted more, and his hand wouldn't do. Not after going so long without him. She moved her hand to his stomach and slid it slowly inside his boxers, careful not to hurt him with her desperation.

He squeezed his eyes shut tightly as he felt her hand wrap around him. He forced himself to take a deep breath, releasing her nipple from his mouth and looking down at her, his eyes filled with desire. "Let go," he said, his voice harsher than he intended it to be.

She enjoyed the way he spoke almost as much as she enjoyed the look on his face, she held his gaze and moved her hand over his slowly, "no." She said firmly.

Oliver recognized the challenge in her tone and realized they were now battling for control. Well, two could play at that game. He slid another finger inside of her, pressing his thumb down against her clit and smirking.

A cry broke through her but she still didn't release him, instead, she pulled him out of his boxers and stroked him, her fingers tightening around him. It was a battle for control, they had done that several times before, and in the end, they _both_ always won.

He buried his face against her neck as her grip on him tightened. "Fuck," he uttered, breathing heavily and moving his fingers inside of her, slowly at first and then faster.

Chloe moaned, moving her hips against against his hand and pumping her fingers around him at the same speed, she turned her head toward his, her tongue brushing against his ear and then she took a deep breath, "I want you inside of me," she demanded, her voice tight and breaking from lack of air.

"Then let go," he responded, nipping lightly at her neck.

"You first," she told him, tightening her fingers around him but slowing her hand down.

He looked down at her, his eyes dark. "You're the only one here who's capable of multiples, Chloe," he murmured. "Sure you want to be this stubborn?"

She stilled her hand and looked up at him, but didn't let go, "what part of 'I want you inside of me' is so hard to understand, Oliver?"

Oliver smirked at her. "You're the one being difficult."

"Wanting you to _fuck_ me hardly qualifies as being difficult," she pointed out, smirking back at him and she had no idea how she was able to even form sentences, but somehow, she managed.

He lowered his mouth to her ear. "It's going to be hard to fuck you if you don't let go," he murmured, biting down lightly on her earlobe.

Chloe shivered and closed her eyes, reaching down and holding on to the hand he had between her legs before letting go of him slowly.

Oliver slid his fingers out of her, lifting his head to look at her as he rose up on his knees, shoving his boxers and jeans down farther. Then he grabbed onto her hips tightly, dragging her closer to him and positioning himself at her entrance. He gazed down at her for a moment, and then thrust into her without further hesitation.

She made a noise that was a mix of a cry and a moan as she felt him inside of her, her eyes closing as her body adjusted to him and she breathed heavily, grabbing on to his arms and after a long moment, moving her hips toward him.

He held his body in check for a moment, allowing her time to adjust to his presence, gritting his teeth in an attempt to maintain control. When she moved, he slid out of her and thrust back into her again, dragging her legs up higher for a better position.

The change in position caused him to slide in further and she shivered, finally opening her eyes to look at him, she took a deep breath and placed her hands on his arms, moving against him.

Oliver met her eyes and held her gaze as they moved together, slowly at first, his heart beating rapidly in his chest. "Is this what you wanted?"

Her nails dug on his arms and she picked up the pace, "yes," she told him, biting on her bottom lip and thrusting harder, "isn't it what _you_ wanted?"

"I think you already know the answer to that," he responded, his jaw tightening as he thrust into her a little faster, a little harder.

Chloe's response was a moan, and she wrapped her arms around him, moving her legs even higher and locking her feet behind his back, heels digging against his skin as she tried to pull him even deeper inside of her.

Oliver shifted positions so he was resting on his knees, keeping one hand on her hip as he moved inside of her and letting the other rest beside her head, lowering himself down a little more so their faces were only inches apart.

She looked at him and lifted her head, a hand tangling up in his hair as she kissed him hard, her muscles already clinging to him as she got closer and closer.

Without warning he let go of her hip and slid both arms beneath her, scooping her up and settling her on his lap, kissing her with every bit of urgency that she was showing him. He thrust up into her, letting one of his hands slide between them, rubbing her in time with their movements.

Although she didn't want to, she finally had to break the kiss to breath, she moaned breathlessly in time with his thrusts, tension building higher and higher inside of her as her muscles clung to him as hard as they could. Her back arched and she could feel sand falling from her hair over her bare back, the combination of him, the sand and the breeze made her shudder hard and sent her over the edge, a loud cry escaping her lips as she held on to him as tightly as she could.

Oliver buried his face against her neck, thrusting into her once more before following her over the edge, shuddering against her. "Chloe," he whispered, closing his eyes tightly and dropping back onto the sand with her still in his arms. "God."

Chloe kept her arms and legs around him, she turned her face against his neck and only moved her legs so he wasn't laying on top of them, but now her body was warm, covered by a thin layer of sweat, and the wind was cold, which caused her to shiver again.

He slid his hand down her back, closing his eyes and just trying to catch his breath. He turned his head and pressed a kiss to her jaw.

She turned her face a little more and brushed her nose against his cheek, her mind completely blank, she didn't want to move.

He didn't want to move either, but he knew they wouldn't be able to lay there for long. He kissed her again, softly, more tenderly than before, his breathing finally beginning to even out once more.

The tenderness of the kiss caught her by surprise and although she returned it, she started pulling back a moment later, "probably need to wash off before getting back."

Oliver recognized what she was doing the second she pulled away and though he let her go, his jaw tightened a little. "Yeah."

Chloe adjusted her underwear and looked at him as she stood, she could see the tension in his jaw and she considered her options for a moment, her instincts told her to just turn around and run for the ocean, put some distance between them. But she remembered her conversation with Mrs. Kent when she was in DC and she remembered how awful the past month had been with them not speaking and how tired she was of their arguments, so she took a deep breath and held her hand out to him silently.

He looked up at her for a moment, then down at her hand. He hesitated a moment, and then slid his hand into hers, rising to his feet. He gave her hand a squeeze and then let go, leaning down to pick up his boxers and shaking them free of sand before pulling them up. He picked up her dress, sliding it over her head wordlessly, his fingers brushing lightly over her bare flesh.

She shivered slightly at the touch, raising her arms for the dress then looking over at him for a moment, she was terrified of what was going to happen, of all the feelings she had for him and especially of how divided she was between wanting to get back and get in the shower with him and spend the rest of the night with him, and wanting to get away from him as soon as possible. With a deep breath, she looked away and picked up her bra and his t-shirt from the sand, holding the latter out to him.

"Thanks," he said quietly, tugging the shirt on over his head and watching her for a moment. He could tell by the way she was acting that she _wanted_ to run. His chest tightened a little. This was never something he'd intended to happen. Not again. Not like this.


	3. Chapter 3

**Star City HQ -- January 1, 2011**

AC sat in the kitchen, drinking a bottle of water and looking up when Chloe entered the room. "Hey. Sleep well?" he asked, glancing at the clock. It was well after noon and it was the first he'd seen her since the night before.

Chloe stopped herself from grunting in response. She hadn't been able to sleep until long after the sun was up, when they got back inside, which was close to four, she went to shower and she kept finding sand _everywhere_ , it took her about an hour to finally be satisfied with how clean she was and make her way to bed. "Not as well as you, I'm sure," she said instead and made her way to the coffee maker.

He took another drink, raising an eyebrow at her. "No?"

She glanced at him over her shoulder and raised a single eyebrow. "How are things with Dinah?"

At that, AC grinned a little. "Just fine, why?"

And Chloe couldn't help but smile a little at his response. At least it was working out for them. "Just wondering."

"Bart said you vanished after the clock struck Midnight," he said casually, leaning back in his chair and watching her.

"So did you," she told him, turning back around to prepare her coffee.

AC grinned at her deflection, shrugging a little. "True."

Once the coffee was brewing, she turned around and leaned back against the counter, "can't really talk, can you?"

"I can talk just fine, Chloe. I don't know what you're insinuating." He smirked.

"Uh huh," she smiled a little, "I don't want the details, so let's just say, I'm glad you had a good night."

"Does that mean you didn't?" He gazed at her.

Chloe paused at his words, and it was almost like he knew something had happened, but how could he? There had been no one at the beach when they were there, no one had seen them getting back, there was just no way he could know, "sure, it was okay."

"That's good." He nodded a little, watching her for a moment then taking another drink. "Well, I'm gonna head out for a swim. Catch you later?" he asked, rising to his feet.

"Yeah..." she watched him, raising her eyebrows slowly, "see you later."

AC nodded a little and headed outside, glancing behind him as he slid the earpiece into position. "Plan B is still a-go," he said quietly.

"In position," Bart said into his own earpiece where he stood upstairs, in his room.

"No sign of target two yet," Dinah informed them, "stand by."

"Ten-four," AC responded, grinning a little at the sound of her voice.

"I'm set-up," Victor interjected. "Let's find target two."

"Cyborg? Can you activate the GPS?" Dinah asked into the earpiece.

Victor typed something onto his computer screen, smirking when Oliver's location popped up almost immediately. "Looks like he's out for a walk. Heading down the sidewalk, north, not too far from HQ."

"Impulse, a ride?" Dinah's voice spoke once more and it was followed by a whooshing sound in all of their ears and then, a moment later, "target located, stand by for information, over and out." She said, hiding the communicator into her jeans' pocket as she approached Oliver casually, "hey, didn't expect to see you around here."

Oliver glanced at her, blinking a couple of times in surprise. Normally he was much more aware of his surroundings but he hadn't even heard her approaching. "Likewise," he admitted.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, sliding her hands in her sweater's pockets and looking over at him.

He shrugged a little. "Just...taking a walk," he told her. "Trying to clear my mind, I guess. You?"

"Just walking too," she shrugged, "clearing your mind? Everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine," Oliver assured her with a shrug. "But you know. Nothing like a new year to try and seek out perspective."

"Glad you see it that way," she smiled and adjusted her sunglasses, "guess I should head back."

"Short walk," he remarked, his eyebrows furrowing a little.

Dinah smirked at him and turned around, "later, boss," she said, then started jogging back in the direction of the house.

Oliver shook his head a little, watching her go with a puzzled expression on his face. "All rightie then."

* * *

**Undisclosed location -- January 1, 2011**

Chloe stirred in her sleep and frowned a little when something didn't feel right, but her head was pounding, so she didn't actually open her eyes.

A soft groan escaped Oliver as he sat up slowly, rubbing a hand over his face. When he opened his eyes, he felt the breath catch in his throat. He didn't recognize his surroundings. It was mostly dark with just a small night light plugged in on the wall opposite him, and from what he could tell, he was in some kind of basement. "Oh hell."

When she heard his voice, Chloe finally opened her eyes, they widened when she realized the room was almost completely dark and she glanced on the other side of the bed and was not surprised to find Oliver there, "not again," she groaned.

He turned to see her, his eyes widening a little. "Pretty sure we weren't kidnapped by Batman this time."

"Are you hurt?" she asked, eyes narrowing in the darkness.

"Other than the pounding headache and the vague sense that I could throw up? No. Are you?"

"Not anymore than you are," she said, rubbing her hands over her face, "what is the last you remember?"

Oliver paused at that, thinking. "Running into Dinah." He frowned.

Chloe frowned too, turning on the bed to look better at him, "last thing I remember is talking to AC in the kitchen and he was acting weird."

At that moment, a screen flickered across the room and Victor appeared on it, his arms folded across his chest. "Watchtower. Arrow." He nodded at them. "You know the movie Saw?"

Oliver looked at Chloe, a hint of disbelief on his face.

She stood up, glancing at Oliver then looking back at the monitor, "this isn't funny, Victor, where are we?"

"Well, this isn't like that. If you look around, you'll find plenty of food and water, and there's a bathroom off to the left. Unfortunately for the two of you, you're stuck there until you've worked things out," Victor informed them.

Oliver glared at him. "What happens between Chloe and I is none of any of your business," he said darkly.

"It is when it affects the team," Victor responded. "Have fun. Signing off."

"Wait a minute!" Chloe called, walking over to the TV, but the TV went off and the room was dark again, Chloe sighed deeply and turned around, looking over at Oliver, "now what?"

He sighed, leaning back against the bed, and raking a hand through his hair. "Figure out how to get out of here and then kill them all," he grumbled.

"They know us better than anyone else," she pointed out, a frown on her face, "they know how we work, we're not gonna manage to break out," she said flatly, moving back to sit down on the bed.

"Then I have no idea," he said tiredly.

She laid back down too and sighed, "I will _kill_ the next person who drugs us and kidnaps us and I don't even care if they are supposedly on our side."

Oliver was silent for a moment. "They have a point." His voice was quiet.

Chloe was silent for a moment longer and sighed, rubbing her face, "I know."

He closed his eyes, resting his head against the edge of the bed she was laying on. "So where does this leave us?"

"Same place we were last night, I guess," she turned on her side toward where he was sitting and opened her eyes even though she couldn't see him.

"Which is where, exactly? Because it wasn't exactly clear."

She sighed deeply, "we need to do something to make this better, but we don't know what." As she spoke, she curled up on the bed, which was actually surprisingly comfortable, like the ones they had at the headquarters.

Oliver rubbed a hand over his face, letting his eyes close again as he fell silent for a long moment. "Maybe Mia and I should move out of headquarters."

"No," she said firmly, "you're not leaving your own house because of me."

"It's better than you leaving town, Chloe. We'd still be around. And I have another house. In fact, I have a penthouse, too."

"And what will that even solve, Oliver?" She asked, with a shake of her head, "we will still have to be around each other and if we're not talking, we'll still be making things uncomfortable for everyone." She grew quiet for a moment and closed her eyes, "besides, I don't want that," she added quietly.

"Then what _do_ you want?" he asked softly.

"I don't know," she admitted with a quiet sigh, "I want us to be comfortable around each other, I want us to be able to talk, like we were in DC before I screwed things up again."

Oliver was silent for another moment. "One of us is always going to screw things up."

"How do we stop ourselves from doing it?" She asked quietly, "I mean, it feels like we either blow up at each other or we end up letting the hormones take over."

He shook his head, his chest tightening. "I don't know, Chloe," he said with more than a hint of defeat in his tone. Truthfully what he wanted was a time machine, one that could take them back to months ago, back to before Clark's confrontation with Zod. Maybe back before they'd even started all of what had happened between them in the first place. He rubbed his hand over his face, and pulled his knees up to his chest, resting his arms on them.

Chloe's chest tightened as she recognized the defeat in his voice, she curled up more and closed her eyes again, "I'm sorry I hurt you," she whispered after a long moment of silence, her voice tight, "I never meant for it to happen, even if I expected it to."

"Me either," he said quietly. "I'm just not cut out for the whole relationship thing."

"Neither am I," she agreed quietly.

Oliver sighed softly. "So basically we're back at square one."

Chloe didn't say anything or move for a long moment, and then, finally, she slid down from the bed and sat down next to him, "I think... our priority needs to be making sure we don't resent each other to a point we can't even look at each other anymore, because despite everything, we do make a good team and-- I think we have both lost more than our share of people as is."

He swallowed hard, his chest tightening painfully at her words. He turned his head to look at her. "I don't _want_ to resent you, Chloe," he murmured. "And I don't want to lose you, either."

"But you already do?" Her stomach turned a little at the conclusion and she was glad for the darkness because her eyes teared up.

Oliver reached out and slid his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to his side. "I think it was pretty clear last night that we both resent one another to a degree," he murmured.

She leaned into him slightly and sighed, "yeah... you're right."

"Doesn't mean we can't work on trying to get rid of it," he added softly.

Chloe bent her knees up against her chest and nodded, "how do we even begin?"

He was quiet for a moment, resting his head against hers. "Maybe trying to talk about things without getting angry?" And having angry sex in the process, he thought.

"I guess that's a good start," she whispered, closing her eyes, "and just take five if we feel ourselves getting irritated."

Oliver nodded slightly in agreement. "And then go from there," he murmured.

"Yeah," she said quietly then took a deep breath and sat up a little, "I guess saying I'm sorry I stayed in Metropolis is a good place to start."

He closed his eyes. "And I'm sorry I left you there," he whispered.

"I never-- really blamed you for leaving," she admitted softly, "I knew I should have left with you, I knew better than to make Clark my priority, _again_ , I should have left with you and the team. But I think I was still trying to get over the fact that he _wasn't_ dead after all and I thought I had to take care of him since Lois was away." Chloe paused for a moment then added, "I saw him about five times before he decided to leave."

Oliver turned his head to look at her in the darkness. "I wanted to stay with you," he said very quietly. "But I couldn't. Not when I made the promises I had to Mia. But I didn't want to leave you, Chloe."

She swallowed and shifted, wrapping her arm around him too, "that's the thing, Ollie," she whispered, "I _know_ that, I know you didn't choose to walk out and leave me there and I know we both screwed things up to get us to where we are now, but I don't blame you for that, I never have, despite of what I said last night out of anger."

He leaned his forehead against hers and exhaled slowly. "I was angry with Clark. I still am. I have been for awhile, before any of that stuff even happened," he confessed.

"I am too," she paused, "I was angry with him before, too, but then, when everything happened and I thought we'd lost him..." she trailed off.

"I know," he said quietly.

"Why are you angry with him?" She asked.

Oliver raised an eyebrow at that. "You really have to ask?" he said softly. "After the way he treated you for the better part of the year?"

"I just wanted to confirm," she told him, "make sure I wasn't assuming the wrong thing."

"You weren't." He reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

Chloe took a deep breath and pursed her lips together, "that's kind of how I feel about Tess," she whispered, unconsciously cocking her head slightly into his touch, "even though the situation is different, I just need to make sure she's not going to hurt you."

Oliver was quiet for a moment. "Tess doesn't have the power to hurt me," he told her quietly.

She looked over at him and sighed softly, nodding.

"So where do we go from here?" Oliver asked uncertainly.

"I'm not sure," she admitted, laying her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes. She missed being close to him like this a lot, something about having his arms around her, it felt right, but she didn't know if she was ready to tell him that.

He rested his head against hers, closing his eyes, as well. "I'm not either." He was silent for a moment. "Chloe?"

"Yeah?" She whispered, but didn't move otherwise.

"Last night..." He hesitated. "I didn't hurt you, right?" There was a hint of uncertainty in his voice. "We were kinda rough."

Chloe couldn't help but smile a little at the question, she shook her head slightly and tightened her arm around him for a moment, "you didn't," she assured him, "at all."

Oliver relaxed, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Good," he murmured.

She was quiet for a long moment, not thinking of anything at first and then trying to think of how to word what she wanted to tell him, because she knew if they didn't actually talk about _them_ this conversation would do as much good as the other ones they'd had. "I miss this," she said finally, her voice really quiet and her heart beating fast against her chest.

"So do I," he admitted, stroking her arm gently without really thinking about it.

"What if we screw this up beyond repair?" She asked quietly, finally voicing to him what she had been afraid of all along, "and we can't even look at each other anymore?"

"We've already had that problem," he said just as quietly.

"I know." Chloe let her breath out and lifted her head, "I don't want to make anything worse than it already is."

Oliver felt his chest tighten. "So how do we make it better?"

"I have no idea," she admitted, looking down at her lap.

He was silent for a moment, lost in thought. "What if..."

"Yeah?" She asked, willing him to go on, because if he had an idea, at least, she would know what kind of thing he had in mind.

"What if we start again?" he asked quietly, turning his head to look at her in the darkness.

Chloe stopped for a moment then pursed her lips together, her heart beating fast, "start from scratch?"

"As much as possible," Oliver murmured.

"I think," she whispered, taking a breath, "starting over is a good idea," much better than having to keep their distance from each other.

"Yeah?" There was a hint of hopefulness in his tone and in his eyes.

"Yeah..." she said quietly, "I think a lot of our problems come from us trying to keep our distance from each other when we really don't want to," she admitted finally.

Oliver exhaled slowly and nodded slightly, tightening his arm around her just a little. "I agree with that."

She sighed, relaxing a little and tightened her arm around him too, "and if we start arguing, we should be better at talking things out," she added quietly.

"Or at least letting ourselves cool down before we end up saying hurtful things we can't take back," he murmured.

Chloe winced slightly and nodded a little, "yeah, I think that's a good idea."

"The last thing I've ever wanted to do was hurt you, Chloe." He swallowed hard. "You know that, right?"

"I know," she shifted, so she was even closer to him, "that was the last thing I wanted too."

Oliver was quiet for a moment and then he kissed her forehead hesitantly.

She closed her eyes, then shifted slightly, lifting a hand to cup his cheek, her heart beating fast against her chest. She didn't know what was going to happen, but she knew that this was going to be better than what they had been doing.

He leaned into her touch instinctively, then dipped his head and kissed her softly on the mouth, a far cry from the urgency and desperation of the night before, but nonetheless full of emotion.

Chloe returned the kiss, it was a gentle kiss, unlike the first time they ever kissed, and she felt herself relaxing a little more. They were both willing to work things out, even when they weren't together, they still made a good team, they made an even better team when they were in sync, and despite all her fears and reservations, she knew _this_ felt right.


End file.
